The Hijinks War

16. The Aces

My jaw dropped. Their jaws dropped. Emma squealed and Eddie's hands on my shoulder shook me around in some sort of victorious excitement. I slapped his hand away, and watched as a few of the Core nodded to Jess. I got only glares, but I'd been rude, so I guess I'd have trouble accepting having to work with me too.

"Are you serious? She directly disobeyed us!"

"And I'm sure Katia would have let us go eventually," Leon drawled to my amusement.

"I think that most of your ins came from showing us you had balls. You guys can leave now." Kellen dismissed them.

Balls. Such a typically boy way of saying it, but somehow it cleared a bit of the tension. Everyone left quickly, a mess of excitement from the Aces and annoyance from the Core. Jess and I stood where we were, both still a little shocked.

"Ahh, I'm so proud of you guys!" Jackson pulled us both into a crushing hug. "My little Shmuffins!"

I raised an eyebrow at his weirdly out of character outburst as Jess giggled. No one else was around, save the two of us and the Trifecta; I wondered how long he'd been waiting to do that.

Kellen chuckled, dropping his head tiredly into his hand. "Shmuffins, Jacks? You're weird."

Jackson dragged us to the door. "You coming, Kellen?"

"Yeah, Jacks. Go ahead, I'll meet you at dinner... Nicole?"

I whipped my head around to look at him, shocked that he'd called me by my name and not Natalie. I forced myself to take on a tone and stance I would with my friends, as the others left. "What's up?"

"You really pissed them off, Nicole."

"Does it look like I care?" I planted a hand on my hip.

"I can't believe they wanted to wait for orders." He shook his head.

"You're the one who wanted those idiots for your 'Core', Genius!" 

"Yeah, well, thanks for having the balls to come get us."

"Again with the balls!" I scoffed. "It wasn't just me, you know?"

"I know. That's kind of why I'm letting you keep your 'rogue squad'. And it is your squad, Nicole. Jess is only your co-captain because Jacks would never forgive me if I sidelined her."

"What?"

"She told us earlier that she really had nothing to do with it, that it was all you and she wasn't going to take any credit for doing what you did. We told her she would share it whether or not she wanted it."

I nodded, but felt a little awkward with his admittance. "I don't know why I'm in charge, anyways. Emma did most of the planning and Eddie did most of the research. If anything, it should be them."

"I don't trust them, Nicole, I trust you." He brushed his hands over his face in an exhausted sweep, so he didn't catch the shocked way I stared at him. "Besides I think I need an insubordinate little snot like you around. God knows I'm sick of those damn yes men who wait to be told what to do. They're fun to hang out with, and great at parties, but it's so tiring having to figure it all out, all the time."

"I'll be reminding you of that when you're complaining I'm the worst decision you've ever made. So, the Aces?"

He nodded. "The Aces... will probably piss off the rest of the Core even more than you did, Hero."

"Because?"

"Because," he said, his hand hovering over the doorknob. "You guys can operate completely on your own, outside of Elite orders."

Stunned. That's what I was. As Kellen sauntered out of the room, I could only gape.

"You look like you've seen a ghost!" Jess exclaimed as she crashed into my side.

Jackson—who hadn't gone with Kellen and Leon—tucked us under each arm. "She looks like she just saw Santa, is what she looks like."

"I think, I just got what I wanted." I marveled as we headed out into the cold towards the dining hall.

"You did." Jackson said as if confirming that I had just seen a unicorn. "You're basically Elite now."

"Jacks, that's hardly what she wanted, she hates the Elite!" Jess laughed.

Jackson feigned being wounded. "But, how can you hate... all this?" I groaned as he guffawed after indicating his face. 

"Ugh! Jacks, I'm your sister's best friend, I'm off limits." 

"Whatever you say, Natalie..." As Jess and I both punched him, he laughingly threw his arms around us again. "I'm glad I can actually hang out with both of you now!"

I hadn't realized we were at the dining hall already, and when we entered, all eyes were on us. Jess and Nicole with Jackson Kida, not following him like a weird double shadow. Even Katia, Hadley and Vivienne took notice as we sauntered across the room. Things were changing.

As a hijINKs notice set the hall buzzing, I looked sideways at Jackson, who looked genuinely happy about being able to hang out with his sister and me. "Yeah, yeah, Jacks. Just don't expect me to change my dinner plans for you."

Thunderbirds Trifecta appoint new Sergeants Watson and Fuller to head special class task force, the Aces, after a daring and innovative rescue mission.